U16 DeLaMary’s Girls vs. Rathdrum
A super start to the girls u16 league last weekend. With St Marys combining again with De La Salle Palmerston again this year a fantastic squad have been prepping for weeks for the start of the season!
Although some referee delays meant to game KO was delayed by an hour, the girls didn’t let this deter them or dampen their focus.
Having played Rathdrum in a warm up game earlier in the season the girls knew to expect a physical encounter. After 15 mins and a lot of competitive play neither team managing to enter the oppositions 22. A turn over ball from a tackle into touch left the DeLaMarys girls just outside their own 22 with a line out. A fantastic rolling maul got the team moving up the field where eventually from some fantastic footwork from the back line the DeLaMarys girls managed to find themselves with a penalty on the 10 meter line. A well worked ‘tap and go’ saw Darcy Cotes cross the line in front of the posts for the first score of the game. Which was converted by Emma Murphy. 7-0 to the home team. From the restart Rathdrum pushed their line well and eventually turned over the ball inside the DelaMarys half, some excellent defensive pressure eventually resulting in a knock on and a scrum between the 22m and 10m line. A well executed scrum gave Simi a good platform to pick off
the base and made a 20 meter break fending off much contact. Solid rucks and crash balls carried the team up to the 22 when some swift hands and great foot work resulted in a penalty to DelaMarys on their opponents 5 meter. The team made quick work of converting this to 5 points with Farrah going over just wide of the posts. Unfortunately the kick lay just outside of Emma Murphy’s range. Leaving the score at 12-0 to the DLM’s.
A great restart catch and run eventually resulted in a turn over at ruck time for the home team. A super run from one of their pack worked them back to the DeLaMarys 22. Getting the ball out wide where Ruby Small managed to wrangle the visitors into touch. A resulting knock on at line out time gave possession back to Rathdrum who worked hard through contact to eventually get over the line out wide. The conversion was a tough ask for any seasoned kicker and the score sat at 12-5 with 5 mins left in the half. From the restart the DeLaMarys team pushed hard which resulted in a knock on and scrum between the visitors 10m and 22m line. Another super pick and go from Simi at 8 brought play to beyond the 22m line. Some super work from the backline got the ball into the 5 meter where another penalty gave them the opportunity to reset with a tap and go! A super break from Lucy Kelly brought play to within a few meters where eventually Ava Kirwan crashed over the line. Again the kick was missed but the score stood at 17-5 at the half time break despite an opportunity missed right before half time to add to the tally.
Regathered and juiced up on jellies at the half time break DeLaMarys had to restart with the Wicklow side being unable to take advantage of the possession and proceeding scrum and pick from Simi brought play to the 5 meter line where Amy McGuinness managed to crash over out wide. A super start to the second half for the home team leaving the score at 22- 5 with 5 mins in the second half gone. The receiving kick off landed badly but was scooped up by Lucy Kelly who set up a quick ruck and an offload to Simi. The ball went wide again and turned over in play with Rathdrum starting their attack from just inside their own 10m. Some great defensive work from the whole squad eventually led to a turn over and scrum inside the home teams half in between the 10m and the 22m. Ava took a strong run bringing some great offloading across the back line and bringing them into the oppositions 10m. Some strong rucking turned the ball over to visitors for a short stint before
being regained by DeLaMarys and shipped out to Amy McGuinness who did all the leg work to get the ball over the line. Score stood at 27-5. A strong wind went against Ava Kirwan for her kick at the score stood. Some very strong run from Annabelle from the restart was eventually finished with her being hauled into touch on her own 10m. A short throw from the lineout gave DeLaMarys back the scrum advantage on the 10m inside their own half. Some quick distribution from Lucy Duffy saw Ava break and get to the half way line before being hauled down with an unfortunate knock on from the targeted offload. The travelling team had possession for the first time in a while a great scrum and
break brought them to the DeLaMarys 10m but some super rucking from Simi and a pick from Charlotte saw the team work up the field with the Full back (Charlotte) eventually taking the points just in front of the posts with some strong attacking running. Well converted by Ava Kirwan and the score sat at 34-5.
The ball fell loosely for the restart but was regathered by Laoise who made a super break along the tram lines before eventually being stopped inside the oppositions half. Some great choices from the DeLaMarys team saw them work into the 10m line before being rewarded for a high tackle. A super pick and drive from Farrah and then teaming up with Simi where both worked up the pitch to be inside the opposition 22m. Some quick rucking resulted in a Rathdrum turn over but the following tackle was well held up by Jane and Simi to reward the home team with a scrum working from there up to the visitors 5m where a penalty was picked up at ruck time. The home team were flagging at this stage and didn’t manage the tap and go well which resulted in a break and some strong running on the outside track by the Wicklow team. Charlotte tracked the runner perfectly and eventually took her down. An unfortunate offside from the following ruck gave Rathdrum a penalty inside the home teams half. A sustained attack from Rathdrum was eventually turned over by a superb ruck from Amy McGuinness turned over possession but the DeLaMarys girls had to work hard to get out of their own half. This was helped by a penalty for a high tackle close to the half way line which Emma shifted down the pitch to bring them into the opposition half with a decent position. The proceeding lineout was unfortunately knocked on in the air and led to a visitors scrum. The backrow kept to their jobs and mitigated the threat of a pick and go tackling the Wicklow player into touch on the half way line. A week contested lineout gave the visitors the possession again which they
shipped across the backline before being called back for an injured player. A scrum restart would be the last restart of the game. The DeLaMarys girls pushed well on the line and eventually turned the ball over after some great attack by the visitors leaving themselves 90m of work to get through with Charlotte going the first hard yards before offloading to Amy McGuinness who stuck a beautiful line and placed the ball between the posts for the final act of the game with Emma Murphy slotting the extras the game finished at 41-5.
A fantastic start to the League for the team and hopefully onwards from here!